Best urban ritualist

Popping up at the very end of last year at the Museum of Contemporary Art, performance artist and “urban ritualist” Lyra Hill keeps making the rounds, long since establishing herself as the champion of the form. Known for a range of ritual performance practices, Hill emerged from a background as organizer of Brain Frame, a series in which comics and zine makers performed their creations, and has moved these days to intricate, voice-modulated soundscapes and “music” performances that often involve layered breath sounds and evocative lyrics. Dealing with a range of subjects centered on sex and sexuality, they are often composed in natural surroundings, including her “place of power,” a spot at the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary known as the Magic Hedge. Lately, Hill has offered private, DIY courses in ritual structures from her experience in the Reclaiming community, “a neo-Pagan eco-activist tradition,” and lectured at UIC’s “Conversations at the Edge” series. Expect ever-greater wonders from this most miraculous of feminist spiritualists.